He made the interception. The ball was in his right hand. The Chargers cornerback was sure, pretty sure, he had room to run.

“I felt nobody around me, so I really wanted to return it,” Cox said with a laugh. “But we had the game sealed. Get down.”

Good call.

The night was full of them for the defense.

The Chargers survived a test Monday while shorthanded, a matchup that looked lopsided on the pre-game inactive sheet. No Jarret Johnson. No Donald Butler. No matter. Despite missing arguably its four best linebackers, San Diego held a high-power Colts offense to without a touchdown in a 19-9 win.

The offense did its job, including a 22-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Keenan Allen. The special teams came through too, with four Nick Novak field goals – of 31, 33 and 34 yards, plus a 50-yarder with just under two minutes to play. The Colts had their own struggles.

Kevin Acee and Michael Gehlken recap the Chargers 19-9 win over the Colts on Monday night.

Kevin Acee and Michael Gehlken recap the Chargers 19-9 win over the Colts on Monday night.

But the Cox inteception capped what was, for the Chargers defense, the best performance this season, particularly when considering the adversity and, to a lesser degree, the national stage.

“We knew we were shorthanded out there,” safety Eric Weddle said. “Those guys stepped up … Geez, they just played hard.”

“We knew if wanted this season to turn out the way we wanted, we had to put it in our own hands,” inside linebacker Reggie Walker said. “It was probably one of the best collective efforts we've had all season. We knew we had guys who were banged up, but guys were ready to step up and fill the void.”

Andrew Gachkar started for Butler, out with a groin injury aggravated in practice Thursday. Tourek Williams started for Johnson, out with a hamstring injury suffered last week against the Raiders.

Williams is a rookie sixth-round pick. He entered Monday having only played 13 career defensive snaps prior to the Monday Night Football game and , just last week in Oakland, was a healthy scratch.

While the Chargers relied on reserves, they held Indianapolis to 0-for-5 on third down in the first half and 2-for-10 in the game. They came up with timely plays, like a 9-yard sack in the fourth quarter by defensive end Kendall Reyes to slow the momentum of what had all the look of a Reggie Wayne-led touchdown drive.

Indy settled for a field goal instead.

Luck completed 18 of 30 passes for 202 yards with the game-sealing pick that bounced off Wayne's hand. Running back Trent Richardson was contained to 40 yards on 10 carries after gashing the Chargers a season ago in Cleveland.

Johnson, a reluctant spectator, said defensive coordinator John Pagano did a “phenomenal job.”

“I thought he was aggressive when he needed to be aggressive,” Johnson said. “I thought he played off when he needed to. He called a phenomenal game. I love pressure. I was happy to see him cut loose and say, ''You know what? We're going to be aggressive and bring who we got.'"